Release day for the debut novel by B.B. Hamel. Here is what I had to say!

Undersold by B.B. Hamel

Will be available on February 12^th at Amazon!

Amy Woodall has it bad. Her father is dying of cancer, her job barely pays the bills, and she can’t get through the day without thinking about her crushing student loans. As an escape, each night she throws herself into developing a smartphone app in the hopes of kick starting her stalled-out life.

Things change when she begins an innocent text flirtation with a man she meets online. Shane Green is beautiful, passionate, and rich in a way Amy can barely comprehend. He’s also obsessed with his privacy, and he’ll do anything to protect the people he loves from the spotlight. When Shane’s company buys Amy’s fledgling business, she finds herself torn between family, career, and love, with no easy way out.

The rules have changed, and Amy must find a way to navigate them before she loses everything.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24562830-undersold?from_search=true

Published & Release Date: Self-Published, February 12, 2015

Time and setting: Present day, Philadelphia, PA  

Genre: New Adult Romance/Contemporary/Billionaire

Heat Level: 2

Rating: 4.5 Gold Crowns

Vikki’s Musings

B.B. Hamel asked me to review her book, Undersold. I do not read a lot of New Adult romances, but the book description sounded intriguing, so I decided to give it a read. I am so glad I did. This is a fantastic story. It is very well-written, especially for a debut novel. I feel that Ms. Hamel is an excellent storyteller and will go far.

Amy Woodall has recently graduated from Columbia University with a degree in computer programming. She is extremely stressed. She has a the ton of student loans hanging over her head, her father has terminal cancer, and she works at a coffee shop for minimum wage.

Amy devotes most of her spare time developing a smart app. Her best friend suggests she give the website Matchstick a try. She has never been into the online dating thing, but she desperately needs some stress relief. After a dozen selfies, she posts her information and a picture on the website and starts getting eligible bachelors pinging her cell like crazy. 

One profile picture catches her eye, and she answers his message. She starts a carefree texting flirtation with the hot guy. Things heat up quickly when she discovers he is in the tech industry and they seem to have so much in common. He wants to meet. She agrees and they set a time the following day.

Amy is way too nervous the next morning. She has an appointment with  Adstringo, a tech company interested in buying her app program, and is anxious over agreeing to meet Rex Blue, the hot guy. When she arrives for her interview, she is shown into the Shane Green’s office, and she comes face to face with none other than the hot guy she has been sending very explicit texts to for the last few days!

Should she distance herself from this very private billionaire and keep their relationship professional, or should she give into the overpowering attraction she feels and also have a passionate affair with him as well?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Amy and Shane’s emotionally-charged love story. Ms. Hamel’s writing style flows smoothly and her pacing quickly drew me in and had me rooting for this interesting couple. I really wanted them to find their ‘Happily Ever After’. I was not sure that would happen since I understand there will be future books in the series and many of these New Adult romances end in a cliffhanger. Fortunately they do find their HEA.

The book is written in first person and Amy’s point of view. Normally I enjoy having both the hero and heroine’s POV, but Ms. Hamel writes this so well, that I never realized I never read any introspection from Shane until after I had read the entire book and sat down to write my review! That is truly amazing since I feel as if I understand Shane almost as well as Amy’s character. I grew to know him through their texts and dialogue.

If you like J.S. Scott’s Billionaire Series, you will love Undersold. This is a brilliant first novel and I am confident that Ms. Hamel will bring us additional books and her writing will only get better!

Now for the only reason I did not give this book five Gold Crowns. There are a few minor mistakes many new authors make, but they in no way distracted me from this great read. I highly recommend that you read this excellent book. Happy reading!